RV carry

In a couple of months when I retire, I plan on heading out in an RV for about a year. I will probably stick to the 30 states that honor my CCW.

While in the RV, what would anyone recommend for bedside protection that won't kill someone 20 feet away in another RV or car? Maybe a my Taurus Judge with #9 shot? My Daisy BB gun?

Maybe an alternative type of protection would be best. I even thought of things like an ear spitting air horn, but I have to think of surprising someone already in the RV too, so it would involve my carry gun. I have a S&W 642, maybe rat shot?

While I don't RV cross country and I rarely stay in a campground with many, if any neighbors. Boondocking I think its called in the RV community. I have a 24 foot travel trailer that my family uses for camping and hunting. I like to shoot so I normally have an arsenal with me. Never really thought about defending against an intruder. I guess my .44 mag would be it because its always close.

My primary goal is of course to stay alive. But I also don't want to spend my retirement in criminal and civil court.

Check the laws of the individual states you are planning on traveling through. Many have laws similar to Colorado where an RV is considered the same as your house and you have full right to expel any mope that breaks in, with any force you think necessary. In other words, don't worry about shooting the ding-bat.

The other consideration is shooting near "neighbors". If you hit the mope, I seriously doubt there will be repercussions of a bullet entering a neighbors "house". Hit him solidly, COM and the energy left in the bullet will not penetrate far. Besides which, in an RV you would most likely be shooting front to back or back to front rather than side to side AND most likely be shooting from a low position to someone standing (shooting upward).
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I would urge you NOT to attept to use any form of "ratshot" or "snakeshot", simply because it is NOT going to stop an attacker with any kind of certainty IF the attacker is larger than a field mouse. Pick a firearm you are comfortable with, accurate with, and load it with a good personal defense cartridge. That may be a .380, a .38 Special, a 9mm, ,40, 45, or some other. It will RARELY be a .44 Mag, .460, or .999 Bambi Stomper. It should be a gun you shoot well shot after shot after shot- because you may very well need more than one shot to stop an attacker. My everyday carry is an old S&W Mdl 36, loaded with good HP ammo. Yes, I own several .357s, 9s, 45s- but I can put 5 of the 38s in a space the size of your hand at 7 yds- in the time that most .357 snubby shooters are getting off shot #2- recoil, ya know. Put bullets in the person attacking you, they are not likely to go much further, unless you picked the .308 or the .50 Barrett.

I would defend my RV home with the same, if not more, force that I would defend my bricks and mortar home with. Once someone breaks into your RV, they are IN the same room as you. There is no locking the bedroom door and calling 911. The bad guy is 10 feet away, do you want to put your life in the hands of Speer rat shot or Gold Dot's? At a time like this I would not worry about what a bullet MIGHT hit, I would just worry about what I NEED it to hit. Go with a proven fight stopper, i.e. 9mm, 40, .357, 45 etc.

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There is in life perhaps one fleeting moment when the courage, dedication and resolve of one man gambling against all odds will alter the destiny of nations.

First things first: Kill the bad guy deader than sh*t. If you want to shoot shot, make it 12GA 4 shot through an improved choke. If there's a chance that the maggot is going to wake you up by jumping on you, have a handgun.